NATO places Spain as the country with less military spending among the 32 allies and still very far from the objective of reaching the minimum of 2% of GDP. Our country will invest this year in defense 19,723 million euros, figure equivalent to 1.28% of the gross domestic product. Compared to the penultimate classification published in March, Spain has fallen another two steps and has been surpassed by Slovenia and Luxembourg (1.29%) or Belgium (1.30%), in a year marked by the absence of general budgets of the State due to the paralysis of the Government of Pedro Sanchez.
The Atlantic Alliance has just published these updated figures on the occasion of the summit of heads of State and Government that It is celebrated from July 9 to 11 in Washington, which commemorates the organization’s 75th anniversary. The President of the Government will appear at the meeting without homework done just when NATO insists on the urgency of increasing military spending. Not only to help Ukraine in the war of aggression launched by Russia, but to reinforce the deterrence and defense of allied territory.
The report has been made public coinciding with the visit of the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden. Spain’s stagnation contrasts with the general trend in the rest of the member states of a sharp increase in military spending.
Defense spending in NATO countries
“The latest figures show that, across Europe and Canada, NATO allies are increasing defense spending by an average of 18% this year. This is the largest increase in decades“Stoltenberg said in his appearance with Biden.
“A total of 23 allies are going to spend 2% of GDP or more on defense this year. This is more than double what four years ago and shows that European allies and Canada are really stepping up and assuming your part of the responsibility to protect us all in the NATO alliance,” says the Secretary General.
According to the Alliance report, the member states that invest the most in defense are Poland (4.12% of GDP), Estonia (3.43%), the United States (3.38%), Latvia (3.15%) , Greece (3.08%), Lithuania (2.85%), Finland (2.41%), Denmark (2.37%) and the United Kingdom (2.33%).
In addition to Spain, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Belgium, the member countries that have not yet reached the minimum of 2% – which in principle would have to be achieved this year – are Croatia (1.81%), Portugal (1.55%), Italy (1.49%) and Canada (1.37%).
The Government of Pedro Sánchez maintains its plan to reach 2% of GDP by 2029. In his defense, he also argues to the allies that Spain already far exceeds the second objective of allocating at least 20% of military spending to investment in capabilities (it is already at 28%). Furthermore, our country contributes significantly to NATO missions and operations, for example in Latvia, Slovakia or Iraq.
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